Alex Grimm | + Follow Poet |
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My Mirror Adversary

My father always told me
My strongest adversary
Was my own reflection.
In the mirror,
It always shadowed me-
My own personal monster
I could never escape from.

I learned to hate my reflection.

The biggest problem was
My mirror adversary
Grew with me.
I could never outpace It.
Never throw a harder punch,
Never out-think It,
Never do more than
Come to a draw
With my own reflection-
I was not
Allowed
To break the glass.

I learned to shatter myself instead.

When I got older,
Those things didn’t change.
Rather,
I worked to outdo
My own manifestation-
My shadow took the same
Steps as me and I realized
I had another opponent
In the ring with me-
My thoughts
Turned darker
With the lengthening
Of the hours.

I learned to start each day with longer strides.

Today,
In my house,
I kept the lights off-
In the darkness,
I realized,
There are no shadows.
There are no reflections.
There was only ever me.

I learned how to start over.

Now, my shadow and I
Take each step together
Soundly, not silently.
Now, my mirror and I
Are at ease with each other-
Our fingers only still bloodied
From repairing the likeness
Of my shattered reflection.
I’m still not whole.
My mirror will
Always
Be missing pieces
Broken off somewhere
Down the roads
I’ve left behind.

I’ve just learned to make the most of It.

Copyright © Alex Grimm | Year Posted 2017

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